1. Field
The present invention relates generally to techniques useful in networking and, in particular, in applications of wireless mesh networking.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, oil and gas equipment need to exchange data with remote entities. Sensors on the equipment gather data that remote entities, like operating companies, may wish to monitor, and remote employees of those companies often desire to send data to the equipment to effect controls thereon. Further, in rural areas where such equipment is often found, there is relatively incomplete Internet access, both for industrial users and consumers in the area, who often would like Internet access for residential use or for use while traveling through rural areas.
Various existing ad hoc wireless mesh networks are not adequate for many use cases related to oil and gas equipment operating in rural areas. Often multi-hop routes through such networks will degrade, e.g., due to nodes moving, changes in weather, or transient interfering transmitters. In many systems, upon degradation in an existing route, the entire route is discarded, causing the network to undertake establishment of a new, replacement route. Regenerating the route from scratch can slow operation of the network and reduce the ratio of overhead to usable bandwidth in an unfavorable fashion, particularly for routes with relatively high hop counts, as often occur in rural deployments.